In Time of True Love's Presence
by RosieG
Summary: This takes place in the7th year. Will Harry, Ron and Hermione be able to defeat Voldemort in the final battle between good and evil? (R/Hr fluff...)


"In Time of True Love's Presence"  
A story by yours truly, RosieG  
  
Disclaimer: All characters belong to J.K. Rowling, blah, blah, blah, I have nothing funny to say. The song "If Only Tears Could Bring You Back to Me" belongs to the Midnight Sons and can be found on the Pokemon soundtrack.  
  
A.N:) Hi! This is my second fanfiction. I was just about to fall asleep one night when an idea came to me and I decided that, if left until morning, things could get ugly and so I kindly sat down to write at 1:30 in the morning and finished straight-through. Might I add, that my math teacher was greatly annoyed with me the that day for dozing off during one of her more interesting lectures on Algebra's affect on the renaissance period and how it plays a major part in our everyday lives, although my falling asleep may not have been the product of a bad night's rest... and between all of you and me, let me say that being yelled at in Hebrew, while it may sound cool to someone who doesn't understand what is being said, is not terribly pleasant. Therefore, I advise everyone to at least try and enjoy my story, even though it contains countless bits of fluff, and lend me your support before my next class where my teacher will be explaining the many reasons people need to know how to solve- 4mx*m:2437+77x -m... (Need I say   
more?)  
  
A.N2:) This takes place in Harry, Ron and Hermione's seventh year.  
  
  
  
Ron hit the ground and tasted blood. It was raining hard and he was aching all over. He was muddy and cold but more than that, he was terrified. He looked up as bolt of lightning flashed across the sky.  
"Hermione..." he muttered as he saw her stand up a few yards in front of him. She was drenched with rain, but she wore an expression of pride and fury as she faced Voldemort. Harry was getting to his feet behind her and she shouted back at him to run and get away, standing between him and the Dark Lord to give him time, even though she knew that Voldemort would simply kill her and then move on.  
Ron wasn't going to let that happen.  
"Hermione! No!" He got up and ran towards her as Voldemort raised his wand. Ron knew he was going to be too late, knew he didn't have a chance as he flung himself in front of her and knew, that everything he'd lost everything he'd ever cared for as he was blinded by a flash of green light and then, he knew no more.  
  
"Ohhh..." Ron moaned. He opened his eyes. He was lying in the hospital wing at Hogwarts and seriously felt as though he'd been turned inside out and then turned back inside in again. Then, he began to remember everything.  
  
  
  
It was a cloudy day and he Harry and Hermione were spending it in Hogsmeade. Harry had just gone off with Ginny, which troubled Ron somewhat, but not as much as what he was about to do.  
He pulled Hermione into the alleyway behind the Three Broomsticks and kissed her, a long, long kiss. When he broke away, she smiled.  
"Hmmm..." she said, "trying to sweep me off my feet, Mr. Weasley?" She looked at him adoringly, causing his heart to pound and his ears to turn very red.  
"Hermione," Ron began, trying to put into words the fact that over the past year, he'd fallen madly in love with her. He decided he'd just get started and let things take their course. "Hermione, I-" Hermione interrupted.  
"Oh, Ron, listen. This is my favorite song!"  
They were standing next to a window, out of which was coming a very nice tune that Ron supposed was playing on the WWN.  
If only tears could bring you back to me,  
If only love could find a way...  
Ron bowed and smiled at Hermione. "Would you like to dance?"  
"Why of course Mr. Weasley." She giggled and curtsied.  
She snuggled up to him and he put his arms around her and they slow danced until the song ended. Ron backed away a little, determined to tell Hermione that he loved her, when he heard someone's wheezy voice come from behind them.  
"All comfy and cozy, are we?"  
Ron spun around and Hermione gasped. The person standing behind them was none other than Wormtail a.k.a. Scabbers- Ron's old rat.  
They didn't have a chance to reply, however, as at that they were both knocked out and Hogsmeade faded from before their eyes.  
  
Ron came to, when somebody slapped him.  
"Huh?" he muttered dazedly. He looked up to see Wormtail's pointy nose three inches from his own. "You!" He said vehemently, struggling to get up but finding that he was tied to a chair.  
"Ow!" He heard a familiar voice from behind him as Hermione was awakened in the same fashion.  
"Hermione? Are you ok?" Ron tried to turn around to catch a glimpse of her, but couldn't.  
"I'm fine Ron." She replied indignantly, with only the smallest trace of fear in her voice.  
G-d I love her so much! He thought to himself.  
He was distracted at that moment, by a tall figure sweeping into the room, and Ron's stomach turned to ice as he realized that he was looking at the being that had frightened him more than anything his entire life. The waxy skin, the red eyes. Voldemort looked down at him with a sickening smile and Ron winced.  
"The mudblood and her boyfriend." He said disgustedly. "The two people that Harry Potter would surely try to rescue. He'll be joining us shortly." Voldemort laughed and Ron looked away, horrified.  
Of course Harry would come to rescue them, the prat! He just couldn't ever think of himself. He was probably going to come barging through the door at any minute! Ron looked over at the door that seemed to be the only way in or out of the drab room in which they were being kept. Ron suddenly recognized it. They were in the Shrieking Shack! A stone's throw's distance from the castle and he couldn't do anything about it!   
Ron struggled yet again in his bindings, frustrated. He and Hermione had to get away before Harry got there. But try as he might, he couldn't get loose.  
He was desperate. He heard Hermione sigh with annoyance.  
"It's no use Ron. We can't break free."  
Voldemort laughed again. "I do hate mudbloods." He said. He raised his wand and pointed it at Hermione. He then muttered a word that froze Ron's heart. "Crucio!"  
Hermione's screams penetrated the air behind him.  
"Hermione!" Ron shouted, trying desperately to get free. The binds cut into his wrists and he felt blood trickle down his hands but he didn't care. All he knew was that the girl he loved more than life itself needed him and he couldn't help her. Tears of frustration welled up in his eyes.  
Voldemort lifted his wand. Hermione's shrieks subsided and Ron could hear gasping for breath in between sobs. It broke his heart.  
He looked up at Voldemort, straight into his merciless eyes. "You son of a-"   
His words were cut short as Voldemort performed the Cruciatus Curse on him as well.  
Pain.  
The most terrible pain coursed through his entire body. It felt as if hot lead were being poured through every vein and he could swear that he was being de-boned by someone reaching through his skin and pulling them out one by one. He gasped. He couldn't breath. He wanted to scream but forced himself to stay quiet. He couldn't stand it much longer!  
It stopped abruptly. Ron sat twitching as he looked up and saw that Harry had burst the door open and was standing there looking like he would undoubtedly kill the first person to come at him.  
"Harry!" Ron said weakly, still shaking, "Harry, get out of here! RUN!"  
Harry didn't listen. He pointed his wand at Voldemort and cried, "Expelliarmus!" but Voldemort cursed Harry at the same time. A beam of golden light connected the two wands and splintered off to form a golden cage around them. Ron knew what was happening, Harry had told him and Hermione about it in the end of their fourth year. "Priori Incantatem." He muttered. Ron looked at Voldemort and saw that he was smiling. He then realized something.  
"Harry!" he shouted, "He was expecting this to happen! It's what he wanted!" But Harry wasn't listening. Both he and Voldemort were lifted off the ground and blasted through the roof.  
It was raining and the drops came falling through the hole in the ceiling.  
Suddenly, gruff hands pulled him and Hermione out of their bindings and dragged them across the floor. Wormtail was taking them outside. Hermione cried out and he hit her. This, was a huge mistake.  
With strength he didn't know he had, Ron pulled free of Wormtail's unnaturally strong grip and attacked him with all of the fury he could muster. He hit him as hard as he could. How dare he even touch Hermione! He thought. As he was punching Wormtail, he came across his and Hermione's wands sticking out of Wormtail's front pocket. He grabbed them and ran for the door. He shot down the stairs and blasted out of the front entrance to the house.  
"Here." He handed Hermione her wand and headed as quickly as he could, towards the golden cage he could see in the distance. Hermione followed him.  
When they reached it, they found Harry, shaking from head to foot, on his knees, Voldemort laughing hysterically. Gold beads were heading along the line that connected the two wands, in Harry's direction. The beads and Harry's wand clicked. There was a humongous explosion and Ron was flung backwards. He hit the ground and tasted blood. Lightening flashed across the sky, as he looked up and saw that Harry was on the ground and Hermione was getting to her feet.  
Voldemort raised his wand just as Ron ran to block her, and then the flash of green light and darkness...   
  
  
  
Ron sat up in horror, remembering finally all that had happened.   
"No." he gasped. He didn't lose her. He couldn't have lost her! He looked wildly around him and saw Harry asleep in the bed next to his, but he didn't see Hermione!   
"No!" Ron said louder. He stumbled out of bed and collapsed on the floor, his legs too weak to hold him.   
He hadn't even told her he loved her.  
Madame Pomfrey ran in, having heard Ron shout.  
"Get back into bed young man!" she exclaimed, bending over to lift him up.  
"No! Where's Hermione?!" Ron was fighting desperately with Madame Pomfrey, panic rising with every gasping breath he took.  
"Please! Get back into bed!" Madame Pomfrey pleaded with him.  
"No!" Ron was practically screaming, "Where is she?!"  
"Ron!"  
Ron looked towards the door from where his name had been called and found himself looking at Albus Dumbledore.  
"Poppy, help Mr. Weasley up." He said, his eyes gleaming.  
"Professor," Ron was almost crying, "where is she professor?"  
"Come with me." Dumbledore replied.  
Assisted by Madame Pomfrey, Ron made his way across the hospital wing after him. They stopped in front of a curtained area.  
Madame Pomfrey placed Ron in a chair and pulled the curtains aside.  
In the bed behind the curtains lay Hermione. She was deathly pale and she looked like a ghost.  
"Hermione!" Ron gasped, trying to get up but failing.  
He saw her chest rise and fall and realized that she was breathing. She was alive, but, how   
could that be?  
"Professor, what happened?" Ron asked Dumbledore, his voice choked as he tried to hold back tears.  
"What do you remember?" Dumbledore replied.  
Ron thought for a moment. "I remember, You know wh-... Voldemort." Ron shuddered but he would never be afraid of saying that name again. "Voldemort was going to kill her. I couldn't let him. I ran to block Hermione but, I was too late." Ron put his face in his hands.  
"Ron," Dumbledore grasped his shoulder, "you saved her."  
Ron looked up at him.  
By jumping in front of her, you showed true love in it's purest form- giving your life for another, and by doing so, you survived the curse of the Dark Lord."  
Ron looked at Dumbledore in shock but he ignored this and continued.   
"Your gesture caused the curse to divide it's impact on two people which is why neither of you were killed, but Hermione was still badly hurt." Dumbledore's eyes clouded over. "Ron, there's still a chance that..." Ron looked away.  
"And Harry?" He asked in a quiet voice.  
"Harry is simply resting. He will be fine."  
"How'd we get here?" Ron continued, trying to keep the conversation away from the subject that was breaking his heart in two.  
"I arrived with the other professors to find you and Hermione unconscious. We captured Peter Pettigrew, who, for some reason was knocked out in the Shrieking Shack." Ron couldn't help smiling despite everything.  
"And Voldemort?" He asked, wondering why Voldemort hadn't killed them all after he'd failed the first time.  
Dumbledore's eyes looked suddenly triumphant. "He's gone." He announced simply.  
"What?!" Ron jerked his head around to look at him. "How?!"   
Dumbledore paused and looked at Hermione before beginning.  
"Like lightening that cuts through the dark sky,  
The one who lived will defeat evil's essence,  
Ere death come to all bringing fear nigh,  
Though only in time of true love's presence."  
Ron looked at Dumbledore as he finished reciting.  
"That was a prophecy made long ago, about the fall of the Dark Lord. Until Harry was born, no one knew whom 'the one who lived' referred to. When he survived Voldemort, that was made clear, and I might add that the first line made more sense as well, the lightening." Dumbledore's eyes flickered to where Harry was sleeping peacefully before continuing, "Wizards who studied the prophecy assumed that the 'true love' mentioned would be Harry's own, as did Voldemort, seemingly. He thought, that as long as Harry hadn't fallen in love with anyone, he still had a chance to kill him. What nobody expected, was that the 'true love' was referring to that of somebody else, which would be revealed clearly in the final fight against Voldemort."  
Dumbledore paused and looked at Ron, his eyes ablaze with blue fire. "I spoke with Harry after the entire ordeal and he explained everything that happened. It's really quite extraordinary, even by my standards."  
Ron was beginning to understand, Dumbledore's words finally sinking in. "What did happen exactly?" he asked in a shaky voice.  
"Well, it was all very quick. A matter of seconds, really. After the blast between Harry and Voldemort, Hermione stood in front of him to give him time to run. Voldemort raised his wand to kill her and Harry, realizing what he was about to do, prepared to curse him before he had the chance. But Voldemort struck first. At that moment, you ran to block Hermione. The spell hit you both, at the same time that Harry cursed Voldemort. I arrived a seconds before the terrible explosion that followed. When everything cleared, you and Hermione were lying unconscious. Harry and I thought for a moment that you were both dead." Dumbledore sighed, remembering it. Then he looked at Ron and smiled. "Voldemort was destroyed. Harry's power combined with yours and Hermione's love for eachother. You must have realized by now, Ron. Yours is the 'true love' spoken of in the prophecy."  
Dumbledore finished his rather extraordinary speech, leaving Ron completely in shock.  
"Get some sleep." He told him, standing up. "Being a hero is hard work." With that he swept from the room, Ron gazing after him, emotion welling up inside.  
Madame Pomfrey was crying as she gave him a hug.  
"I suppose you'll want to stay with Miss Granger?" she said sniffling. Ron nodded. "Normally, I wouldn't allow it, but really, who am I to stand in the way of true love?" With that, she handed Ron a blanket and rushed back to her office, positively sobbing.  
Ron snuggled up in the chair next to Hermione and eventually fell asleep.  
  
A week had passed since that fateful night. Harry had since woken up and he and Ron had stayed up late into the night, discussing what had happened. Harry was almost deliriously happy and walked around with such an expression on his face as someone who had realized that his lifelong dream had come true. He went back to school two days later, but Ron refused to leave Hermione's bedside. He'd barely eat and didn't sleep until he dozed off from complete exhaustion. There was still a chance that she could die. What would he do if she did? The thought haunted his dreams when he did sleep and entirely occupied his mind when he was awake.  
He was sitting by her bed one night gazing at her and wanting desperately to be able to tell her how much he loved her. She still hadn't come to, and even Dumbledore was starting to worry now.  
As he looked down at her, the words of the song that she had liked so much came drifting back to him and he realized how much it connected to the situation that they were in now. He hummed the tune, pushing a strand of Hermione's hair away from her face as he thought about the words.  
  
How will I start,  
Tomorrow without you here,  
Whose heart will guide me,  
When all the answers disappear.  
  
Is it too late,  
Are you too far gone to stay?  
Best friends forever,  
Should never have to go away.  
  
What will I do?   
You know, I'm only half without you,  
How will I make it through.  
  
If only tears could bring you back to me,  
If only love could find a way,  
What I would do, what I would give if you,  
Returned to me someday, somehow, someway,  
If my tears could bring you back, to me.  
  
I'll hold you close,  
And shout out the words, I'd only whispered before,  
For one more chance, for one last dance,  
There's nothing that I would not endure...  
  
Ron couldn't help himself. Two tears trickled down his face. He leaned over and kissed Hermione gently on the lips.  
Something happened. Hermione stirred and... and kissed him back! Ron pulled away. Hermione moaned and opened her eyes.  
"Ron." She whispered, trying to smile.  
"Shhh!!!" Ron jumped up and down excitedly. "Don't try to talk! You're too weak! I'll be right back!" Ron ran to Madame Pomfrey's office and began pounding on the door. "She's awake!!!" he called.  
"Oh my!" Madame Pomfrey bustled out of her office and rushed towards Hermione.  
She checked her thoroughly as Ron stood behind her biting his nails. (It was a habit he'd picked up over the past week.)  
"Everything seems to be in order!" Madame Pomfrey declared.  
Ron gave strangled cheer from behind her, causing Hermione to laugh softly.  
Madame Pomfrey turned to Ron and ordered him to make sure that Hermione got plenty of rest and care. Ron told her that she was daft to think he'd do otherwise, causing Hermione to giggle weakly again.  
Madame Pomfrey turned to Hermione before going back to her office. "You should know, that you have a very remarkable young man here." She glanced at Ron. "Nobody I know, would be willing to give their life for another." She bustled away leaving Ron's ears redder than they had ever been.  
"Ron you silly." Hermione said in an almost-whisper when she had gone.  
"Hmphh! Just like you to call me a silly after saving your life!" Ron tried to sound offended but failed horribly, as he was almost crying with relief.  
"Come here." Hermione said.  
Ron leaned over her and kissed her again. As he pulled away though, he noted how tired Hermione looked and she was still very pale.  
"You should sleep. Now." He ordered.  
"All right." Hermione agreed.  
"But wait." Ron exclaimed, "I'd better say this now while I've got the nerve." He took a deep breath. "I love you Hermione."   
Hermione's eyes filled with tears but she smiled as she replied, "I love you too." And with that she drifted off to sleep, happier than Ron had ever seen her.  
  
A.N:) I hope everyone enjoyed this. I know, it was very fluffy, but give me break, ok? I happen to enjoy fluff, and anyway, there was plenty of action too. Please r/r and tell me what you think.   
:) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) (You get the picture...) 


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